Welcome To The Machine
by V the Happy Lurker
Summary: Metal has returned to from the 'grave' to seek vengenance. Can Sonic stop the manical robot? And will he survive the DBZstyle fight scenes?


             I'm trying to keep with the Archie canon plus all the material from the games , so there may be some inaccuracies. If there are any biggies, just let me know and I'll try to fix them. Okay, now that's settled, onto the DISCLAIMERS!

**_Attention: _**_All the characters are property of Sega and Archie Comics. I only own the plot. Minor spoiler for SA2. There will be violence , a foul language, and death, but hey, that's what fics are for.  You've been warned. _

Welcome To The Machine 

            The egg-shaped pod blasted through the atmosphere, trailing green-white fire in its wake. Like a shooting star, it descended from the starry Mobian sky in a blaze of celestial glory, lighting the fields and forest below in an eerie glow. Crashing to the ground, the pod ploughed a deep furrow through about half a mile of soft forest loam, finally skidding to a stop at the edge of an abandoned GUN fort. It cooled slowly, the shell dimming from a brilliant white to the lustrous gleam of chrome. 

            With a hiss, the top part of the pod spilt open in two halves and they slide into the bottom to reveal a cramped, darkened cockpit sparking with a sporadic flickering dots of light. A figure lay at the center of the pod, attached by various bundles of wire and tubing. Its eyes flashed red, dilating to two thin, hateful slits. The figure sat up slowly, dislodging several of the connections. It rose out of the pod, shedding the rest as it hovered several feet in the air above it. Moonlight shone off the black metal body, highlighting the dazzling scarlet and blue detailing with a silvery haze. It gleams off the pale green emerald in its chest, adding an ominous glow to the already radiant gem. 

            "Initial scan indicates that the targets are nearby, approximately 30 yards due west." The computer hummed. "Also, there are two organics inside the base; the fox called 'Tails' and another, apparently a fox as well, but not profile was located in the database." 

             "Proceed to phase two and ignore them." The robot droned flatly. "If they get in the way, kill them."

            With another hiss, the hatch closed and a set of spider-like legs extended from the bottom of the pod. It scurried toward the center of the city, leaving the robot alone in the air. It watched the pod for vanish into the labyrinthine passages, then turned in the direction of the surplus station. If robots could smile, there would certainly have been a leer on its vicious face. 

_***_

            The sun peeked above the somber mountaintops, lighting the Great Forest in a warm rosy glow of dawn. A rapid thump of running feet broke the still morning air as Sonic sped through the dappled shade. While morning runs were normal for him, today there wasn't any of the routine joy in it. He, along with the rest of Knothole, had spent most of the night looking for Tails. The little guy had been out on a walk with Amy before just vanishing into thin air.  "I just took my eyes off him for one second, and POOF! he was gone!" was all they managed to get out of the hysterical young hedgie when she ran back to the village. 

            'This stinks of Buttnik.' He thought coldly, racing toward the rusting hulk of Robotopolis. It had been almost two years since the incident with the ARK and rumors began circulation that Robotnik was dead. None of them ever stated the exact cause, though some hinted that Snivelly may have finally succeeded in offing his _dear_ Uncle Julian. But Sonic seriously doubted it. And he also didn't believe the outlandish story that Robotnik had been imprisoned or killed by some weird cult of cyber echidnas. It was more likely that the Eggman was laying low, bidding his time and letting everyone be lulled into a false sense of security before striking. 

            Suddenly, the massive bulk of the Egg Walker burst out from the trees and stands before him. 

            "Alright, Ro-Buttnik! Just the ugly I was looking for!" The grin vanished quickly. "Where's Tails?"

            There was no reply. 

            "Hey! I'm talking to you, Eggman! What have you done with my little bud?" 

            Silence. 

            'There's something wrong here…' Sonic picked up a large rock and hurled it at the machine. It smashes against the cockpit window, creating a large hole in the plexiglass. To his amazement, there's no one sitting at the controls. "What the…"

            Without warning, the Egg Walker bolts forward, nearly trampling the hedgehog under its metal feet. 

            "Oh no. You aren't getting away!" He races after the fleeing Egg Walker, but just he catches up with it, the Egg Walker lifts off the ground and zips ahead of Sonic. Growling in annoyance, the hedgehog speeds up, to no avail. The more he gains on the machine, the faster it goes. By the time they reach a clear-cut section of forest surrounding the concrete hulks of  several squat building, Sonic had nearly hit his top speed. Suddenly the Egg Walker stops just inside the ruins of the GUN base.  

            "Alright, you bucket of rust. Just what are you're gonna do now?"

            "This." ,crackles the loudspeaker. 

            The wails of sirens rented the air as a mechanical voice chanted over and over, "Purging levels A1-F1 to R2-D2. Purging levels A1-F1 to R2-D2. Purging levels A1-F1 to R2-D2. Purging…."

            "Purging? Purging them of what?"  

            Sonic got his answer when the ground beneath his feet began to rumble and shake with the force of an earthquake. He watches as the buildings to his left caved in on themselves in rapid-fire succession and vanish into the gapping rift. 

"Shit!" Just as the Egg Walker crashes into the void below, the hedgehog rushes past it and further into the ruined city, barely outrunning the falling metal plates underfoot. Just when it seems that he won't make it, Sonic manages to leap the last few feet and lands on an overhanging ledge. 

            The sirens stop and the voice comes back to say simply, "Purge complete." 

            "You can say that again." He stood and leaned against the wall. It gave way suddenly, sending the hedgehog sliding headlong down a garbage chute before flying out face-first into a springpad. Sonic slammed into a wall before landing in a heap of cast-off parts and scrap metal. He laid there, stunned and bruised, looking up at the ventilation fan whirring monotonously above the heaps of scrap. 

            A floating monitor pops out of a small niche in the wall and hovers noisily in front of the prone hedgehog. The screen clicks and buzzes statically to life. The image is fuzzy and static streaked at first, but eventually it clears enough for Sonic to make the silhouette of someone, or some_thing_, with glowing red-eyes staring down at him. 

            "Welcome, my son." The thing hums hollowly. "Welcome to the machine. Where have you been?"

            He leaps to his feet and is about to snap at the monitor, but the thing cut him off violently.

            "It's alright. We _know_ where you've been!" It laughs cruelly. "You've been in the pipeline filling in time. You're bored and tired, punishment not. You didn't like rules and you know you're nobody's fool." Dramatically, the thing makes a wide sweep with its claws. "So wel—come to the machine…" 

"Who are you and what do you want?"

The monitor pulls back as it laughs even louder. 

            Fed-up, Sonic screams at the screen. "Who the hell are you?!"

            "Don't you remember me, _Sonic_?" It spits his name out like a piece of rancid meat. "The carnival; the Little Planet; that accursed Floating Island…"

            "Metal?" Sonic blinks. "I thought Knux stomped your rusty butt into tinfoil."

            "Yes…the _echidna…_but there's something else…something called 'Mecha Sonic'."

            "That's _past-_tense, Metal. I'll never become that…that _thing_ again…"

            The robot's eyes narrowed. "I am not a thing, Sonic. And my name isn't _Metal _any longer…"

            "That's not possible! The only way Mecha Sonic can even exist is if I get robotized again. And that will never happen." 

            "What makes you think that, hedgehog? Do you honestly believe all robotization does is make someone a mere drone? The process is much more complicated." Mecha laughed. "Even the Doctor, the absolute imbecile that he was, realized the golden opportunity he had been given and made an accurate copy of all your vital statistics and personality for future reference, just in case 'Mecha v.1' failed. And it obviously did…

            "Then came the disastrous episode with the being Chaos. Of course, you know how Robotnik's precious flying fortress crashed, but aboard that now rotting hulk were some of his original prototype robots, including the former me. In the confusion, I was somehow reactivated and managed to escape before the fortress sank into the sea. Unfortunately, when that pink-furred bastard beat me, not only was my body severely damaged but my memory as well. For weeks, I wandered the coastline unable to remember my purpose and under the delusion that I had been an organic being. That is, until Snivelly found me. By that time, he had managed create his own secret base. He repaired my body but didn't fully restore my mind. Instead the little shit played upon my delusions by saying that I had been robotized and he would 'cure' me in return for certain services. Under his orders, I broke into a military base belonging to the Overlanders called GUN and stole a series of files containing references to a covert operation onboard the space station ARK. This intrigued Snivelly, so he ordered me to go back to the base and find more, but by that time Robotnik had already taken Shadow. I think you already know how they gathered the seven emeralds to activate the ARK's cannon,  and how the lifeform stopped the colony's death-fall to Mobius by shifting it back into space, apparently dying when the cannon exploded.

            "Snivelly, however, refused to give up on the matter even after the ARK had been destroyed. He continued to send me out on missions and hacking into GUN's computer systems in an attempt to gather more information. Finally, after nearly a year of exhaustive probing, he stumbled onto a forgotten report detailing the existence of an earlier station called BABEL, no doubt the prototype of the ARK since it was abandoned decades before the latter's completion. Delighted, the pint-sized twerp sent me out to steal the parts necessary to build a ship powerful enough to reach this station. Things were going relatively smoothly…that is, until I went into Robotopolis. Snivelly had sent me there to retrieve a series of programs that he need to run the ship, but instead of finding them, I blundered into the files continuing the truth about my origins. When I confront him with the files, he denied it at first, but admitted to everything after I threatened to rip his head off. From then on, we worked as 'partners'. Within a matter of days, the ship was finished and we were finally able to reach the BABEL. At first, things went relatively smoothly as we refurbished the station and brought the computer back online. Then, however, there came some sort of interference from the remains of the ARK.

            "Curious and eager to continue the work aboard BABEL, I went out to explore the hulk. Do you know what I found there, hedgehog?"

            "Hmmmm…I don't know, you tell me. You're the guy with the Pentium© chip."

            "Eh-heh." The robot 'grimaced' in annoyance. "I've forgotten how overtly mordant you are."

            "Ex-squeeze me? Bakin' powder?" Sonic wriggles a finger in his ear. "I'm overtly _what_? Listen, you bastard son of a vacuum, if that was some kind of crack about me being gay…"

            "No, its not. Mordant[1] means…oh, never mind! Can we get back the plot, please?!"

            Grumbling a couple nasty comments, Sonic nods.

            "Thank you." Mecha settles back into 'classic' villain-mode. "As I was saying, I wandered through the ruined laboratories aboard the ARK, searching for the source of the mysterious electronic interference, I happened into a relatively small room containing a solitary, hi-tech vault or, more appropriately, sarcophagus. There, in that tomb, I found the cause of the interference. Apparently, the occupant of the sarcophagus had activated, whether by accident or design, some kind of distress signal when it was sealed. The computer aboard BABEL must have picked the signal up when we brought it back online. Needless to say, I was thrilled by this discovery, because now I had on hand all the information I needed to in order to carry my plans to fruition much sooner than I had originally even hoped for! With the sarcophagus quickly installed on BABEL, I was able to digitally recreate the perfect lifeform, and then merge its profile with yours, thereby creating the ultimate robotic version of both; Ultra-Mega Mecha Sonic."

            "Ultra-Mega Mecha Sonic?" Sonic looks straight-faced at the monitor, then burst out laughing. "That's gotta be one of the corniest names I've heard yet! And that's including all of Buttnik's 'Egg-whatchamacallems'. Damn, Metal, I thought you'd at least come up with something scary, like 'I.M.A. Lemon', or 'Rusty', or how about _'Full-o-shit'_."

            "Yes, that's right…Laugh all you can now, _Sonic_," The robot growls, its eyes gleaming hellfire in the shadows. "In the end, I shall be the one who will be laughing. But, just to show that there are no hard feelings, I'd like to give you a little present."

            "What, a bomb?"

            "Oh, no-no, my _dear _hedgehog. This is something more _gratifying_." 

The monitor withdrew back into the wall. Form the shadows ahead, Sonic could see a pair of red dots slowly coming toward him. He braced himself for an attack but quickly relaxed when he saw that it was a familiar mustachioed face.

"Uncle Chuck? What are you doing here?"

The old robot lurched forward as his head abruptly snaps off and rolls to a stop at Sonic's feet. Headless, Chuck mangled body collapse in a heap, clutching a large, overstuffed bag in a death grip to its chest. Horror-struck, Sonic stares at the severed head and decapitated robotic corpse muttering wordless.

"What the matter, hedgehog?" The robot coos dully. "You haven't even seen the rest of your present. It's in the bag. Now don't be _shy_ hedgehog; go on and open it."

Tentatively, he walks toward the body and pulls the bag out of its hands.  Sonic looks at it, not quite knowing what to do next. Warily, he reaches inside and pulls out a handful of scrap, plastic, wire, and fired circuitry. "Wa-what is all this?"

"Don't you recognize them, _Sonic_? That bag had you parents in it…well, what's left of them, anyway."

"No-no…" The bag slips out of the trembling hedgehog's hand as he stumbles backwards and trips over Chuck's head. "This…this can't be happening."

"Oh, but I'm afraid it is. I've waited _years_ for this day, hedgehog. Ever since the Robotnik built me, I have had only one desire, one that long ago went far beyond mere programming. My one and only wish was to see you torn apart and shattered at my feet. I told you, _Sonic_, that I'd be the one laughing in the end. And he who laughs last, laughs best." The heartless laughter echoed off the walls and rang cruelly in his ears.   

"RRRRRRRAAAAAAGGGGHHH!!!" In a blind rage, the hedgehog began throwing himself at the walls. "Come out here and face me, you metallic bastard! "

"Such language…" The robot tutted. "You really ought not to talk like that around you folks, _Sonic._"

"Shut the fuck up and fight!"

"Very well." Mecha phases in behind Sonic, slamming him into wall. "Tag. You're it." The robot speeds off down a tunnel. 

 Sonic flies after it, speeding at a frightening pace down the dark tube as it whips and twists downward into the earth. He emerges into a round, arena style zone lit by a blinding white spotlight. Dazzled, he hardly has the chance to react when a spray of gunfire rakes the now sealed doors behind him. 

"What's the matter, hedgie? Is the light too bright?" Laughing madly, Mecha jumped down from the ceiling and leveled the massive rail-gun. "Bye-bye."

"Oh damn." Sonic dodges the ensuing deluge of blazing slugs as the robot spun round and round, trying to hit him. Suddenly, the red-hot gun jams up. Taking advantage of this, the hedgehog spins sharply around and grabs Mecha, smashing it into the wall. Still holding it, he backs up quickly and smashes it again before the robot activates its electric shield, blasting Sonic half-way across the room.  

"Chaos Control!" Mecha roars, phasing out then in beside Sonic to deliver a vicious kick, punting him into the air. It phases out again, catching the hedgehog in mid-air and bashes him to the floor. 

"Wha-…Chaos Control?!" Sonic manages to stammer weakly as he drags himself to his feet. 

"Didn't you figure it out already, fur-ball?" The robot sneers angrily. "I used that worthless vegetable Shadow to modify myself! That means I have both your abilities and his powers! And now, you DIE!!!!!!!!!!!" Mecha charges forward with bullet-like speed, hurtling both itself and Sonic through the zone's wall and into the master computer's chamber. The robot then throws him aside like a rag-doll. Without any hesitation, Mecha stomps down on his leg, grinding its heavy, sharp-edged heel into the flesh until there's a satisfying crunching snap. "No chance of running away now." It coos coldly. "You'll die soon enough as the blood runs out of your mangy carcass. And then I'll hang your corpse up in a tree so everyone can see. Good bye, _Sonic_. I hope you're last moments are spent suffering. " Turning away from him, it idly boots up the computer.

Sonic lies there as Mecha works on the computer, half-dead and barely holding on to consciousness. Through the haze of pain and blood, he faintly makes out the hulking, cancerous mass of the chrome egg-pod burrowed into the floor in front of him. He watches as the robot begins attaching cables to it, hooking the pod to the computer. While it is occupied, Sonic begins to crawl toward the gaping hole. He stops when his fingers slide across a heavy shank of reinforcing rod. Slowly, the hedgehog grasps it and heaves himself up off the floor, burning pains shooting throughout his battered frame. He shakily brings the rod level to his side like a lance and forces himself to charge toward the terrible machine.  Mecha whirls around and takes the blow full in its chest, shattering the emerald as Sonic impales the robot on the rod and spikes it into the flickering panel of the computer console. He is hurled out into the arena zone by the massive discharge as Mecha writhes and flails in a blur of energy arches. The screen and the spotlight blow suddenly, plunging the world into darkness. 

***

            "ugh…" Sonic opened his eyes slowly. Shrouded by misty aura of light, a beautiful furry-girl gazed down at him. "Sweet! I've died and gone to heaven. And all the angels look just like Sally…" 

            "What about me, jerk!" Amy snaps, punching him in the stomach, much to the blue blur's regret.

            "Amy! Don't do that." The princess lightly scolded. She turned back to Sonic. "Are you  alright?"

            "Yeah (no thanks to Amy)." He shots the pink hedgie a nasty look then tries to set up, but doubles back up in agony. 

            "You should just lay still, Sonic. You've got two broken ribs."

            "I'm fine…" He huffs. "Just give me a minute and I… ARGH! What happened my leg?!!" 

            "Dr. Quack put a cast on it after we brought you to the village." Sally sighs. "Just feel lucky I talked him out of putting you in a full body cast."

            "I can't believe this! How long am I going to be stuck like this?"

            "Well," Amy chimes. "You've been unconscious ever since Rotor and Antoine found you in the Great Forest five days ago, so I'll have to say you have…oh, six more months till the cast comes off and your ribs heal."

            "SIX MONTHS!?! I can't be bed-ridden for six months! What if Robotnik comes back…"

            "Pull yourself together!" Sally barks. Sonic doesn't hear her and continues ranting.

 "Didn't you_ see_ it? Metal came back! It came back, killed my parents and Uncle Chuck, and then it tried to kill me! I'm telling you it's still in there! The base…the base…falling in…" 

"Shush… Everything will be alright. Just calm down." 

"Amy, you saw it, right? The base? The pod?"

"Sonic-ku, there was nothing there but a blasted-out sinkhole."

"If there was a base there," Sally added softly. "It must've collapsed in on itself. You were lucky to have gotten out of there in time."

"There's nothing left?"

"No. Nothing…nothing at all." Gently, Sally tucks the coverlet around him. "Now, try to get some rest." She stands and motions for Amy to follow her as she walks out of room.

When they are gone, Sonic lays there staring blankly at the ceiling before drifting off into the oblivious realm of sleep.

  


* * *

[1] Mordant: _adj_. biting; sarcastic.


End file.
